The Institute for Public Service & Policy Development on the Nyack College DC campus will partner with the Institute for Global Engagement to co-sponsor three free lectures. The theme of the spring series is, “Christian Contributions to the Middle East Conflict.” Featured speakers are:

Michael Gerson, Wednesday, March 17 on “ Faith or Fanaticism.” Gerson is an opinion writer at The Washington Post and senior research fellow at the Institute for Global Engagement's Center on Faith & International Affairs. A former policy adviser and chief speechwriter to President George W. Bush from 2000 to 2006, he was a senior editor covering politics at U.S. News & World Report. His book, Heroic Conservatism, was published by HarperOne in 2007.

E.J. Dionne, Thursday, April 29 on “Cries for Justice.” Dionne is a columnist for The Washington Post. Before joining The Post in 1990 as a political reporter, he spent 14 years at The New York Times, covering local, state, and national politics, and also served as a foreign correspondent in Paris, Rome and Beirut. He is a university professor at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. Dionne has been a frequent commentator on politics for National Public Radio, ABC's "This Week," and NBC's "Meet the Press."

Dr. Andrea Bartoli, Wednesday, May 19 on “Overcoming Violence” Bartoli has been the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution’s Drucie French Cumbie Chair at George Mason University since 2007. The founding director of Columbia University’s Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR), a senior research scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), a teaching fellow at Georgetown University, and at the University of Siena, Dr. Bartoli has taught in the US since 1994.

Each lecture will be held at the U.S. Capitol with refreshments beginning at 6:30 p.m., presentations at 7:15 p.m., followed by a question & answer session. The receptions and public lectures are open to the public.